June 20, 2011 Coats
Museum NewsThe population of Coats in 1920 was 526 people. Mr. J. D.
Barnes, chairman of the Harnett CountyBoard of Commissioners, was very ill at his home in Dunn. Coats had the
need for a new police officer for the one they had just hired resigned because
the demands to be sheriff, judge, and executor were more than he could handle (“Harnett
County News” Vol.2 No.28, 1920).Was there some type of unrest or rumblings going on in the
small town of Coats in the summer of 1920? L.L. Levinson wrote a glowing
article about a Coats businessman in the “Harnett County News” on August 5, 1920.
Levinson stated, “deeds are what makes a man.”Levinson continued that “some
people are constantly being misunderstood, mainly because of premature
prejudice, wrong motive or opinion formed by unworthy people.”He said this
businessman “has frequently been misunderstood, but to his friends and those
who know his inside life, fully appreciate his true value.” Levinson continued
to point out that this “person is past master of the Masonic Lodge in Coats. He
is senior partner of a large and successful manufacturing enterprise.”Levinson
penned that this man has made contributions to the church which are immense
considering his wealth. The confidence the people have in him is best
illustrated by the fact that “he is president of three banking institutions in
three different places.” Levinson went ahead to write that he has seen this
“man use day after day of his valuable time in the spiritual, moral, and
financial up building of the Coats community. He had been at the forefront of
every progressive movement in this section and fought where the battle was
hottest for the adoption of these movements….”Who is this man? What were the progressive movementshe promoted? Did he favor building the brick
schoolhouse?Was he promoting the
electrification of the area? Did he fight for the voting rights by women? This
I do know. In less than five months, Coats would lose this man, N.T. Patterson,
to the stillness of death as the result of a self-inflicted wound.According to the “Harnett County News” July 29, 1920, the
Coats School District bond vote was a big issue. Levinson wrote in an editorial
that the time had come in the Coats community life to catalogue each individual
and place them in a position for or against progress: for or against education
of our children: for or against equal opportunity for the youth of our
community. Levinson asked readers if their souls were so twisted and narrow
that that they would deny the God-given right of an education to a single child
for the gratification of prejudice against a school committeeman. Does this not read like there were some major differences of
opinions in Coats on the funding of the school? Levinson would not give up. He
told the citizens to step forward and support the school bond for $30,000.00 to
complete the building that already had $25,00.00 in bond money in it (‘Harnett
County News” September 20,1920).Were the young children in the area aware of these public
issues or were they more occupied with growing up in the 1920’s?Allene Turlingtonhas
wonderful memories of work and fun on the Turlington farm below Coats. She told
her readers of “Remembering the Past” that she remembered having feather beds.
She wrote- back then in the winter time and she said she believed it colder
then, the rooms only had fireplaces-no central heat. The ceilings were very high
and the rooms extremely large. The fireplaces merely took the chill out of the
rooms. Crawling into those feather beds was wonderful. When you snuggled down
into a thick feather bed, you would be warm as toast. Do you wonder if they
used feather beds in the summer? Would they not be warmer than toast in the houses
that lacked electricity for fans or air conditioning. Fifteen children would require lots of feather beds-right?
Where didMrs. Turlington get those
feathers--from Sears Roebuck catalogue? That was a possibility for the
company sold them by the pound; however, Mrs. Turlington got her feathers from
the geese that were raised on the farm. The geese served two functions on the
farm. They would eat the grass from the cotton fields and they were plucked to
get the fine feather-like plumage.It
is easy to visualize the geese pecking grass from the fields of young cotton
but what about plucking those feathers? The geese were shut up the night before
they were to be picked. Usually, picking feathers would be on a damp, rainy day
because the feathers didn’t fly away on that kind of day-don’t know how they
knew that the next day would be rainy. The children were not allowed to pick.
Allene’s mother would take each goose by the feet, turn it upside down, stick
its head under her arm, and pluck all those fine feathers which were white as
one can imagine. The feathers were put into a bag and placed in the sun every
day until they were dry enough to be made into pillows and feather beds. Allene recalled that feather beds and pillows were given
when someone’s house was burned and the items were always a welcomed wedding
gift to a young couple.Next week shall we make apple cider and visit a farmhouse on
a weekend.PLEASE BE MINDFUL
THAT THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE DAILY
RECORD IN 2011.